


spring at last

by jasminetea



Category: Fire Emblem: The Sacred Stones
Genre: Chocolate Box Exchange, Chocolate Box Exchange 2019, Chocolate Box Treat, Everybody Lives, Multi, OT3, Post-Canon Fix-It, Slice of Life
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-15
Updated: 2019-02-15
Packaged: 2019-10-25 12:05:53
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,151
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17724869
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/jasminetea/pseuds/jasminetea
Summary: Lyon still looked forward to Ephraim and Eirika’s visits, especially now that they traded kisses along with letters.





	spring at last

**Author's Note:**

  * For [sunspot (unavoidedcrisis)](https://archiveofourown.org/users/unavoidedcrisis/gifts).



> Your prompt “one coast out to the other following the sound” reminded me of Vienna Teng’s Flyweight Love. It’s a song about long distance/unconventional relationships. And thank you for letting me revisit these old friends. <3

It was Knoll who’d pleaded with Natasha to use Latona to revive Lyon.

“Is it not more merciful to let him be at peace?” she’d asked.

“His country needs him, and this is how we will repent,” Knoll replied.

“He deserves a life outside his father’s shadow,” Duessel stated.

But it was Saleh’s words that had persuaded her. “When Nada Kuya hung up her sword, she remarked it was not her battle prowess that made her victorious, but her love.” He pointedly looked towards Eirika and Ephraim.

Ephraim’s face was buried in Eirika’s chest. And in their entire time traveling together, never had they seen Ephraim cry. But here he was at last, his frame shaking within his sister’s arms as she murmured to him about long-gone summer days and how he’d always have her. But every so often, Eirika’s gaze would lift and look upon Lyon’s still body, and there was such sorrow to her eyes.

And Natasha, having spent enough time around Joshua and Tethys to discover a romantic streak in her devotion, relented at last.

This is how Lyon came to: Knoll’s retreating back, his robes fluttering. The fading glow of Latona falling around him like golden rain. His head in Eirika’s lap, his left hand in Ephraim’s. Ephraim and Eirika’s faces crowding close to him.

* * *

Coming back from the dead was not without its costs though. Lyon’s health had been fragile ever since. While Ephraim, Eirika, Innes, and L’Arachel toured their nations in a goodwill tour, Lyon could not leave Grado. He tried to visit Renais, but every time he crossed Grado’s borders, his lungs began to rattle and his bones ached. It was as if his body would not be parted from Gradoan lands, and if this was to his burden, he would happily bear it.

The distance between Renais and Grado was not so far after all, and the twins were more than happy to travel and spend time with their dearest companion. So they traveled south to see Lyon.

They talked long into the hours. It was as if with so much loss, it was easier for the words Lyon had held on to for all his years to come forth. How he’d envied and wanted to be them in ways that left him tangled up. How he’d admired Ephraim’s surety in the way he moved as a man, the way Eirika’s desire to help others was never seen as a weakness. That he’d never known how to ask for more from one of them without losing the other.

And when the sun gave way, they lit candles, and when their flames guttered out, they fell asleep in the same bed as if they were children again. Old differences meant so little after all they had been through, and if anyone thought it odd that rooms never needed to be made up for the twins’ visits, no one said a word.

When the late spring storm had shuddered past the horizon last night, Lyon wasn’t sure if he was thankful or aggrieved. Ephraim and Eirika were supposed to have arrived yesterday, but the high winds had delayed them. The should be arriving anytime before the midday bells.

The last time the twins had stayed, they’d shared one of their _loo_ _ks_ and told him they’d been thinking and wouldn’t he like to give it a try? And when Lyon had said, “Give _what_ a try?” they’d proceeded to demonstrate. They linked their hands, then took Lyon’s, and each took their turn kissing the other. 

T hey fell asleep in Lyon’s bed again, but this time, it w asn’t at all like when they were children.

When they came, would they pretend nothing had happened? Would they do something as ridiculous as to kiss him in front of the palace staff? They’d exchanged letters, and he had no reason to believe they’d rebuke him, but why was he so worried? He ignored his breakfast, pacing beside the tall windows instead. They overlooked the garden his mother had built shortly after she’d married, and provided a view of the road.

He watched the birds alight among the unfurling leaves and tiny buds. Perhaps he was the tree, ever rooted, and Eirika and Ephraim the pair of birds who came home every spring to say hello again to him. While they wrote each other while they were apart, nothing compared to being in their presence, like warm sunlight on his aching joints.

It was Eirika who came in first. She brought with her a fine silver cape lined with fur. “You’re the Emperor now, you ought to not look so much like a student,” she teased. She draped it over his shoulders, her palms smoothing it down his arms.  
  
“It suits you,” she said and leaned up to kiss corner of his mouth. He shivered, remembering how she’d been so bold before, and it’d been Ephraim who’d been shy.

Lyon touched the spot, and watched Ephraim enter next. He looked a bit confused that the cook had placed a basket of warm scones in his hands. “Hello, Lyon,” he merely said. After, setting the food on the table, he placed his hands atop Lyon’s cloak. And even though the cape was too thick for it, Lyon felt the heat of Ephriam’s hands through it regardless. His pulse raced as they stared into each other’s eyes.

“Come on, Ephraim, we should at least eat before we get to kissing him. Keeping your energy up is important,” Eirika piped up, as she took her seat at the breakfast table.

Lyon blushed, and Ephraim gave a grin.

“She’s right. It’s good to see you,” Ephraim said, and gave his own gentle kiss.

They sat next to one another, buttering the scones, feeding them to one another. When thumbing crumbs off one another’s lips became too much effort, they began licking them off. Lyon complained they’d stain his new cloak at this rate. But they found a better use for it, laying it upon the floor as they found their pleasure in one another.

When they were done, Ephraim sat up. Looking down at Lyon and Eirika, he noted a bit ruefully, “I think we ruined your gift. I’ll get you another.”

Eirika propped herself on her elbow, and began loosely braiding her and Lyon’s hair together.

Lyon didn’t remember everything from when he was possessed, but he remembered the grim set of Ephraim’s mouth and the tears streaming from Eirika’s face. It was a gift to see them both so happy again, and he promised he would do all he can to keep it so. Just as his mother had spent years tending her garden, Lyon would grow both Grado and this tender growing thing between him and Eirika and Ephraim.

“It’s alright,” Lyon said. And then he pulled down Ephraim for another kiss, Eirika’s laughter ringing beside them.


End file.
